Prior to the present invention, there has been a major problem throughout the industrial world, characterized by the United States where improper use of syringes is an integral part of the injectable drug-addiction together with other medical and criminal problems associated therewith. In particular, as of the New York Daily News article of Jan. 24, 1978 by I. D. Robbins, the narcotic users range between 500,000 and 800,000 persons, probably the latter since as long ago as 1973 the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare estimated at that time the nation's addict population to be 600,000. Whatever the number, it is of shocking and disastrous proportions, a recent Penthous magazine article stating that today 800,00 young Americans are heroin addicts, this figure believed to be conservative by Select Narcotic Committe Chairman Lester Wolff (Dem., N.Y.) and others. Moreover, hepatitis is widespread among the addict population whose dirty needles spread the disease from one addict to another; and while such disease has heretofore not been considered to be a suburban problem, such has proven otherwise as early as 1974 when New Jersey rural areas began having large numbers of cases of hepititis found thereupon to be carried by misquitoes from the cities to the suburban and rural areas. The Penthouse article cited retiring Essex County Assignment Judge Joseph B. Sugure as stating that recently 50% of all cases in his court were drug related. The same article stated that of every 125 crimes committed by a drug addict, the addict is caught only once, and that between eight and ten tons of illegal heroin are smuggled into the country each year. An addict must spend typically $50 per day to support a drug-habit on heroin, totalling $18,200 per day--such addict normally being a person without any such funds available thereby requiring the addict to turn to daily crime to support the habit, including muggings, robberies, prostitution, and the like.
It is well-known that legitimate syringes rapidly find their way into the drug market--often from the trash cans of the doctors' offices, and of clinics and hospitals; such scavanged syringes bring a high price in the drug market because of the shortage thereof and the great need therefor by the numerous addicts. Thus, a major bottle-neck for the perpetuation of the heroin-related drug-addiction, is the reusable syringe, and accordingly this is a key focal point of the present invention.
Heretofore the problem of need for an incapacitated syringe has been recognized at least once, in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,146 to Chiquiar-Arias on Apr. 20, 1976 directed to a blade-containing syringe which self-destructs upon a pressing of the plunger thereof during the expelling of the syringe contents in use thereof. There are other patents which have not been directed to such problem nor purpose, but which have contained unidirectional flow valves for multi-use syringes; typical in U.S. Pat. No. 3,663,752 which discloses an accessory inlet check valve that permits the accessory passage of liquid medicine only in the direction into the main path of injection, in order that the accessory injection may optionally be used with the multiple injection syringe and needle thereof. Likewise, the U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,614 discloses an accessory attachment inlet of a multiple dosage innoculator, having a check valve and also having a further cooperating coordinated check valve adjacent the needle, not preventing further use of the multiple-use syringe and needle thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,601 discloses a hand powered liquid syringe metering dispenser particularly for use in the veterinary field, with a plunger check-valve preventing reverse-flow between multiple uses thereof. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,739 discloses a unidirectional-flow fluid-operated hypodermic syringe for multiple-use injection of medicinal fluids into livestock. None of these unidirectional devices are directed toward nor will function as a mechanism to prevent reuse of the injection mechanism or to prevent refilling and reuse by the drug traffic.